AN MP's warning about security fears at a North-East airport has been backed by a local councillor.

However, Councillor Doris Jones has said increased night-time flying was not the answer to prevent Durham Tees Valley Airport being a terror target.

Yesterday, The Northern Echo reported how the Ministry of Defence was going to investigate Middlesbrough MP Dr Ashok Kumar's warning that the military's use of the airport made it a potential target for suicide bombers.

The Labour MP called for the MoD to use nearby military airfields or to fly at night when there were fewer civilians using the airport.

Last night, Coun Jones, a Conservative member of Darlington Borough Council for Middleton St George, said: "I fully support his principle that Durham Tees Valley Airport is inadequate for military use. We do not have the police in the village to cover it and to carry out observation of anything suspicious.

"There are so many houses near, there could be a major accident. But I strongly object to the alternative of night-time flying. I have been campaigning now for years to reduce the number of night-time flights.

"The answer is to keep them at a military airbase.

"Why should people round here suffer from sleep deprivation when we are so close to RAF Leeming?"